C&C remixes get Mixmag thumbs up!
Ibiza 2010 is well and truly in swing and Mbop’s man-about-town in the Balerics has just dropped a report on C&C Music Factory’s progress in the clubbing mecca… word is the 2010 remixes of Sweat are going down a storm.
Australian mixmasters Tristan Garner and Timmy Trumpet, Scouse legend Steve Laycock, Dubai DJs Greg Stainer and Martin Metcalf, Hacienda ace face Graeme Park and NYC’s Oscar Poche are just a few of the coterie of DJs who have been lapping up the remixes - with the Disco, Nightstylers and Tribal versions hitting the mark. And the response has been positive in the UK too, with clubbing bible Mixmag praising Mike Bennett’s work on the production duties in particular in this month’s issue of the magazine. Read article
Due out on September 23 in advance of next year’s 20th anniversary of the seminal house floorfiller’s debut, you can check out some of the remixes for yourself, here.
Countdown to People I.Q launch is on, on, on!
With less than a month until the release of Paul Roderick’s utterly infectious, genre-stradling debut single, I’m just dropping you an update about Mbop’s latest signing.
Set for release on August 23, People I.Q has been garnering great reviews and feedback across commercial and digital radio stations in the UK (Radio 1 and Jools Holland are keen on it), US and Australia, while all the big players in Ibiza have been dropping various remixes of it into their set too. Aussie DJ kings Tristan Garner and Timmy Trumpet have both been lapping up the electro mix and the extended mix respectively, while Liverpudlian legends Steve Laycock and Denny Dowd have been digging the electro mix too. Elsewhere, Frontrowfanz.com have also added it to their weekly playlist and it’s just received a stellar in Seattle bible, LPMVoice.
You can check out the various remixes (including the original edit), here.
Justin Grant’s all Heart
We already knew he had soul, but now Celtic crooner Justin Grant has got Heart too!
As the Northern Irish troubadour’s debut single Could You Cry For Me has just been made Record Of The Week on the Spanish arm of Heart FM.
The lilting summer track, which is taken from his forthcoming debut LP, Break The Wing, will be released on August 2.
Check it out for yourself, here.
Verona’s 606 call in a triumph!
Mbop’s rising jazz siren Verona Chard has wowed a packed out audience at Chelsea’s 606 Club with a spell-binding set to launch her debut album, Fever.
Backed by a five-piece band, the solo star performed a mixture of tracks from the record, which has been inspired by John Dankworth’s Shakespeare And All That Jazz and features the late great Humphrey Lyttelton.
Luminaries from the world of jazz were in attendance to watch the West Country star kickstart the album promotion campaign, in what was a delightful mid-week celebration.
With the promotion campaign for the record now in full flow, Verona has also recorded an advert forJazz FM to publicise the release.
You can also listen to an album sampler and check out her UK tour dates which follow, here.
You can also listen to a recent radio ad below
Hot spell helps rocket In The Summertime up iTunes Chart!
As seasonal as cream teas, beer gardens and ahem… rain free Julys and Augusts, Mungo Jerry’s In The Summertime continues to prove a perennial favourite.
Currently riding high in the iTunes UK Download Chart, the Middlesex folk outfit original topped the singles chart with the lazy, hazy melodic number back in 1970 and 40 years on it appear to have captured the hearts and mind of a whole new generation. Originally penned by frontman Ray Dorset, the track has been covered by a whole host of artists over the years including Billy Idol and Shaggy, but the first version rightly remains the definitive rendition.
So, if you haven’t already, why not kick back and download the track for yourself, here?
Fever pitch in Chelsea as Verona launches debut album!
After wowing the masses at the Marlborough Jazz Festival recently, Mbop’s leading jazz light Verona Chard will finally launch her first album, Fever, tonight.
The record, which gets its official launch with a special set at Chelsea institution, the 606 Club, has been inspired by John Dankworth’s Shakespeare And All That Jazz and features the late greatHumphrey Lyttelton.
Luminaries from the world of jazz will be in attendance to watch the West Country star kickstart the album promotion campaign, in what should be a delightful mid-week celebration.
You can listen to an album sampler and check out her UK tour dates which follow, here.
Digby isn’t a Fairweather fan of Verona’s!
After wowing the masses at the Marlborough Jazz Festival recently, Mbop’s leading jazz light Verona Chard was tickled to get the thumbs up on her debut album, Fever, from industry legend Digby Fairweather.
The acclaimed cornettist showered the Ealing-based siren with praise backstage at the annual Wiltshire extravaganza and has been playing tracks from the record on his UK Jazz Radio show.
The record, which gets its official launch on Wednesday, July 21 with a special set at Chelsea institution, the 606 Club, has been inspired by John Dankworth’s Shakespeare And All That Jazz and features the late great Humphrey Lyttelton.
You can listen to an album sampler and check out her tour dates, here.
C&C remixes has White Isle in a Sweat
Ibiza 2010 is well and truly in swing and Mbop’s man-about-town in the Balerics has just dropped a report on C&C Music Factory’s progress in the clubbing mecca… word is it’s going down a storm..
Australian mixmasters Tristan Garner and Timmy Trumpet, Scouse legend Steve Laycock, Dubai DJs Greg Stainer and Martin Metcalf, Hacienda ace face Graeme Park and NYC’s Oscar Poche are just a few of the coterie of DJs who have been lapping up the remixes - with the Disco, Nightstylers and Tribal versions hitting the mark.
Due out on August 23 in advance of next year’s 20th anniversary of the seminal house floorfiller’s debut, you can check out some of the remixes for yourself.
Countdown to People I.Q launch is on!
With less than six weeks until the release of Paul Roderick’s utterly infectious, genre-stradling debut single, I’m just dropping you an update about Mbop’s latest signing.
Set for release on August 23, People I.Q has been garnering great reviews and feedback across commercial and digital radio stations in the UK (Radio 1 and Jools Holland are keen on it), US and Australia, while all the big players in Ibiza have been dropping various remixes of it into their set too.
Aussie DJ kings Tristan Garner and Timmy Trumpet have both been lapping up the electro mix and the extended mix respectively, while Liverpudlian legends Steve Laycock and Denny Dowd have been digging the electro mix too.
Elsewhere, Frontrowfanz.com have also added it to their weekly playlist.
You can check out the various remixes below (including the original edit), here.
Verona to light up Marlborough Festival
Sultry jazz siren Verona Chard will return to the live arena this weekend at Wiltshire’s Marlborough Jazz Festival.
The Ealing-based singer who will launch her debut album, Fever, at Chelsea institution, the 606 Club, on July 21, will take to the UK Jazz Radio Stage between 1pm and 4pm on Saturday at the long-running Wiltshire extravaganza.
Her performance will also coincide with her own radio show on the station, Women In Jazz.
If you don’t manage to make it to Marlborough though, fear not, as Verona has a lengthy UK tour pencilled in for the end of August onwards!
Check out all the dates and listen to an album sampler, here.
Tommy Thursdays for Munroes
Feverishly-tipped indie-rockers The Munroes will return to favourite Camden haunt, Tommy Flynn’s, on July 15 it has been confirmed.
The quintet, who are set to release the slice of late summery pop that is Rainbow Sun in September, regularly play the Camden live den as part of their Rock N Roll Aint Dead night.
The Thursday night slot - they’ll be on around 10pm - should be a heady way to kick-start the weekend early then!
To listen to the single and some of their other tracks from their forthcoming debut album, click here.
Listeners to go ga-ga for radio star Verona!
The details of Mbop Promotions’ jazz star-in-the-making Verona Chard’s radio show have finally been confirmed.
The Ealing-based chanteuse - who releases her debut LP Fever on July 21 - will present ‘Women in Jazz’ on UK Jazz Radio this Saturday (July 10) at 8pm where she’ll be looking at women vocalists, instrumentalists, composers and movers and shakers in the jazz world.
The show will coincide with her appearance on theUk Jazz Radio Stage at the Marlborough Jazz Festival in our Women in Jazz Event on the same - click here for more information.
Verona will be joined in the schedule by one of her heroes, jazz musician and broadcaster Digby Fairweather plus Dixieland, New Orleans and trad jazz expert Chris Walker.
With just a couple of weeks left until her album launch at the 606 Club, the Fever is spreading!
C&C classic gets Bent thumbs up!
Influential gay culture magazine Bent has given the revamped C&C Music Factory house anthem, Sweat, its stellar approval in the July issue of the magazine (see above).
A selection of disco, tribal, electro, Ibizan and club remixes have been cut by everyone from legendary New Jersey mixmaster Cheyne Christian to Brit producer de jour Mike Bennett (Ian Brown, Libertines, The Stranglers).
Check out some of the remixes for yourself, here.
Ibiza buzz rises for C&C Music Factory and Paul Roderick
The curtain may have only just gone up on the summer season on the White Isle, but the Mbop Promotions roster is making a real splash in clubland.
Both the revamped house classic, C&C Music Factory’s Sweat and Paul Roderick’s post-modernist debut People I.Q are going down great guns according to our man in the Balerics.
Plastik’s Iain Shepherd, Ibiza regular Axwell and NYC’s Benji Candelario are loving the new mixes of Sweat, while superstar DJ Roger Sanchez is still dropping the original ’90s version on a regular basis.
On the People I.Q front, Pacha’s Sarah Main, Mallorca Rocks’ Des Mitchell and Miss Devine are big fans, while Dublin mix-master James McCartan and Ibiza face Mark Netto like both tracks.
So it looks as if both will getting some serious airplay as the weeks unfold and hedonistic clubbers flock to the island.
You can check out some of the ace remixes by Mike Bennett (Ian Brown, The Stranglers, The Beat) and Nightstylers, here.
UK microsite launches for Rockabilly Legends
For those of you who had your musical tastebuds whetted at the weekend by the Sun Records documentary on BBC4… read on.
As this year will see the launch of Jerry Naylor’s Rockabilly Legends extravaganza and Mbop Promotions have just put together a microsite to publicise the launch.
Chronicling those halcyon days when those seminal ’50s rockers Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis revolutionised the music industry, the deluxe collection of CDs, covers, live albums, interviews, a hardback book and a comprehensive rockumentary has been lovingly pieced together by Naylor, the man who replaced Holly in The Crickets following his tragic death.
Already a huge success in the US, this collection is a real treat for old hands and newcomers alike.
And as promised, ahead of its big UK launch you can find out more about the release and check out a trailer, here.
Anyone for Pomegranate? Step forward Verona!
So that’s it then, another World Cup, another dreadful early exit for England. I just hope they make those underperformers fly back economy class like they did with the French players! And for goodness sake, can we have goal-line technology now? It’s getting beyond a joke!
Mild rant over, let’s get back to Mbop Promotions where things are decidedly rosier. With just a three weeks until the launch of her debut album, Fever, sultry-voiced jazz siren Verona Chard has just added two more dates to her intimate UK tour.
The jaunt which follows the album launch bash at Chelsea’s 606 Club on July 21 kicks off at London’s Cross Kings venue before taking in various UK towns and cities; including the Marlborough Jazz Festival and The Big Top in Stratford.
Originally scheduled to draw to a close with a show in Devizes in October 1, the Ealing-based singer will now play The Pomegranate Theatre in Chesterfield on October 18 before rounding things off in London at The Spice Of Life on October 20.
Exciting times ahead, then!
You can listen to an album sampler, get tickets details and order the album,here.
Rock N Roll Aint Dead for Munroes
Fresh from a blazing set at Hoxton’s Macbeth recently, new Mbop Promotions’ signings The Munroes will return to another of the capital’s stages tonight.
As the scuzzy, garage rockers will head to Camden for the second of their monthly live band nights, Rock N Roll Aint Dead.
Held at Camden High Street boozer Tommy Flynn’s on the last Friday of every month, the five-piece - led by the towering showman Robert Munro Runciman - kicked off the run with sets from Melody Nelson, The Dash and Bear Arms.
Ahead of the release of their sun-kissed debut single, Rainbow Sun, later this summer they’ll be joined at the follow-up bash on June 25 by four other acts.
Of course, falling back slap in the middle of the World Cup, hosting nights can be a precarious business - fortunately England won’t play their Second Round match until Sunday (against the Germans…. eek!) so you’re good to go.
Entry is a fiver and the action kicks-off around 8pm - it should be the perfect way to kick-start a (fingers crossed) triumphant weekend!
The Rhythm Factory’s gonna getcha!
It was responsible for the headiest moments on the British music scene since Blur went tête-à-tête with Oasis in the mid-’90s, and now, following the much-vaunted reformation of The Libertines this year, producer Mike Bennett has spruced up his Disonic tribute to The Rhythm Factory’s incendiary club night, Bring Your Own Poison - and the running order for the release has just been confirmed.
First released in 2004, the collection, which features a host of acts who shot to prominence thanks to a spree of guerilla gigs, has been given a deluxe makeover to coincide with The Libs return.
From Pete ‘n’ Carl’s ramshackle classic Up The Bracket and Babyshambles’ Killamangiro to Art Brut’s riotous Moving to LA and The Paddingtons’ Tommy’s Disease, it should have your memory bank whizzing back to a time when the line between band and audience was as frenzied and blurred as it’s ever been. And to beef up the collection, there will also be an ultra rare cut from Pete Doherty plus Mbop Promotions’ roster newbees The Munroes (who played on the bill when Pete and Carl hooked up again for the first time) and Paul Roderick too.
Here’s the full rundown:
The Libertines - Up The Bracket
The Lams - (You’re) On The List
The Selfish C*nt - Authority Confrontation
The Paddingtons - Tommy’s Disease
Art Brut - Moving To LA
The Rocks - Celeste
Tigermoth - Give Me Something
Babyshambles - Killimangiro
Thee Unstrung - You
Electricity Comes From Other Planets - You Stole My Brain
Pete Doherty - Back From The Dead
The Munroes - Univercity
Melody Nelson - The Otherside
Alberteen - Girl And A Gun
The Munroes - Gunning Us Down
The Summons - Come Down
Paul Roderick - Main Line Down To Euston
The Beat - Here I Am In Dub
The Summons - Tequila sunshine
C&C Music Factory starting to make waves in Ibiza
Watcha, I’m sure you’ll remember me updating you last week on the progress of a certain revamped house classic, namely C&C Music Factory’s Sweat.
Well if you don’t, the track which originally tore up dancefloors the world over in the early ’90s has been given the remix treatment almost 20 years on by a host of producers and dance acts.
And after proving a huge hit on Australian playlists, our man in Ibiza has just sent us an update from the White Isle on how the remixes are going down there. By all accounts New Jersey legend Cheyne Christian’s Tribal Mix and Mike Bennett’s and Steve Etherington's Disco Mix inparticular are getting plenty of airplays already and the season’s barely got underway yet - so it’s looking rosy for summer 2010 already.
On top of that another Mbop roster signing, Paul Roderick, is about to drop his debut offering People I.Q and two remixes - Electro and Techno - are proving a big hit with the Baleric island’s tastemakers.
You can check out some of the remixes, here.
Roll on July and August!
Big Top date for Bard fan Verona
Well - England are still in the World Cup then, just. And where there’s life, there’s hope - or so they say. Roll on Wednesday when hopefully the team will have pulled itself together and remembered they’ve actually got some decent players and shouldn’t be struggling to 0-0 stalemates with Algeria!
Thankfully one star who never fails to shine is very own jazz siren Verona Chard.
The West Country-raised singer launches her debut LP, Fever, on July 21 with a show at Chelsea’s 606 Club before heading out on a UK tour. And it’s just been announced the Ealing-based chanteuse will take her Shakespeare-themed album to the Bard’s ancestoral home, Stratford, on September 16 with a set at Jazz In The Big Top.
Layed on by UK Jazz Radio - who have been lavishing Verona with praise for months - the one-day festival will feature a host of artists, workshops, street performers and circus acts in one of Gerry Cottle’s traditional marquee tents, it should be a great way to round off the summer!
Finally, in other gig-related news Verona has also been booked to play London’s Cross Kings in August - more details to follow later in the week.
Enjoy the sunshine on the longest day of the year!
